Health Lifestyles and the Reproduction of Inequality

University Of Colorado At Boulder, Boulder CO

Investigators

Abstract

Health is playing an increasing role in our understandings of social inequality. Researchers and policy makers recognize that health behaviors are often resistant to change. Seeking to understand this problem, some have begun focusing on health lifestyles. These are defined as groups of interrelated health behaviors, rooted in social identities related to understandings of health, responsibility, and risk, that are shaped by knowledge and resources and that have important consequences for health and other life outcomes. This lifestyle approach acknowledges that health behaviors do not happen in a vacuum; rather, they co-occur in sets and influence one another. These sets of health behaviors arise from deeply rooted identities that, if they do not themselves change, can undermine efforts to alter behaviors. The research focuses on three major unanswered questions: (1) What received health lifestyles do children get from their parents? (2) How do those received health lifestyles evolve into achieved health lifestyles across early life? (3) What are the implications of young people's health lifestyles for their development and health? Combining qualitative and quantitative methods, this project bridges different "faces" of sociological social psychology in considering both behaviors and identities and the social norms, structures, and interactions that shape them. The project draws from and contributes to several areas of sociological theory besides health lifestyles: the intergenerational reproduction of inequalities, identity development in children and youth, the reciprocal process of socialization, cultural health capital, and the life course theoretical perspective. Quantitative analyses use three longitudinal surveys that cover different phases of the early life course: the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study's Birth and Kindergarten Cohorts, and the Add Health survey. The project also collects original qualitative data observing family interactions and interviewing parents, with supplemental parent focus groups and school personnel interviews. In addition to scholarly, academic, and public dissemination of findings, this research has the potential to benefit society. Understanding prevalent patterns of health behaviors and associated identity development among children and youth is important for ultimately improving their development, health, and well-being. Understanding their health lifestyles may help reduce inequalities in their life outcomes. Student training and learning is an integral part of the project, with research assistants heavily involved in data collection, analysis, and dissemination of findings. The project will be integrated into the principal investigator's undergraduate and graduate teaching, and findings will be presented in a graduate student workshop.